Japan Earthquakes: Massive quake unleashes tsunami on Japan

TOKYO: One of the most powerful earthquakes in history hit Japan on Friday, unleashing 10-meter tsunami tossed inland navigation and raised fears that the destructive waves could hit the Pacific Ocean.
The devastating earthquake of 8.9 magnitude, left many people injured in the coastal areas of the main island of Honshu and Tokyo, the police said, while television footage showed wide flooding in the area. 26 people were dead.
Monster 10-meter (33 foot) wall of water was registered in the city of Sendai in northeastern Miyagi prefecture, the media, said after the four-meter waves hit the coast earlier. The Government said the earthquake caused "huge damage".
Helicopter footage showed massive flooding in the northern coastal cities, where streams of black water shipped containers, cars and debris crashing through the streets. Refinery burned near Tokyo.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning for a wide area as far away as South America, New Zealand and Hawaii, where evacuations were ordered.
"An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate destructive tsunami that can strike the coast near the epicenter within minutes and more distant coast for a few hours," the center said in a statement.
Swells up to one meter reported impact on the Russian Far East, with big waves expected later.
Television footage showed a wide, muddy stream moves rapidly through a residential area near the River Natori in Sendai, the alignment of all in its path.
The tsunami also reached the Sendai Airport, plunging while the runway is a process known as liquefaction, caused by intensive shaking tremors, turned parts of the ground state to a liquid.
Public broadcaster NHK said that dozens of houses were washed away in the prefecture of Miyagi.
In the capital, where millions of evacuees heavily swaying buildings, several injured when the roof of the hall collapsed during a graduation ceremony, police said.
Pillars of smoke rose from at least 10 places in the city, where four million homes suffered power outages.
The first earthquake a little less than 400 kilometers (250 miles) northeast of Tokyo, the U.S. Geological Survey. It was followed by more than a dozen aftershocks, one as strong as 7.1.
The earthquake was the largest in Japan, the fifth strongest tremors around the world since 1900 and the seventh most powerful in history, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and Japanese seismologists.
"We were shocked so much for a while that we must hold on to keep from falling," said an official of local government most affected city of Kurihara in Miyagi Prefecture.